The NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award is traditionally given to a big man. That makes sense; those players tend to affect defenses the most as they are responsible for erasing mistakes from their perimeter-based counterparts. Last season, however, there was a change in that philosophy as San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard won the award. With elite defenders at perimeter positions plenty, this season could see a repeat of that change. Nevertheless, there are many worthy candidates for this award and we will be presenting our top three at the halfway point of the season.
The second runner to this point of the season is an ageless wonder: Tim Duncan. The San Antonio Spurs center has excelled in his 19th year in the NBA continuously proving his place as one of the very best players in history. Despite mostly being played out of the Spurs offense (Duncan is averaging the fewest points and shot attempts of his career), the 39 year old is still competing on the defensive end at a high level. The Spurs are currently the best defensive team in the NBA, allowing 93.3 points per 100 possessions, an incredible 5.2 points fewer than the second best team. Duncan sitting as the last line of defense is a huge part of that. While the big man does not block too many shots (1.3 per game) he changes plenty of them, allowing opponents to shoot only 41.7%, 4.9 fewer percentage points than their usual FG%. If that’s not enough to prove Duncan’s importance to the Spurs’ defense, perhaps this will: with Duncan off the floor, the Spurs’ defensive rating is 94.2, a number which decreases to 92.9 with him on the floor. That 92.9 is also the best individual defensive rating for any player who plays at least 25 minutes per game. Timmy still has it.
The runner up to the DPOY award at the halfway point of the season is Draymond Green. The Warriors forward has cemented himself as the most versatile defender in the league. No one can guard every position the way that Green can. Draymond is perhaps more important to his team (especially defensively) than any other player in the league. With him on the floor, the Warriors allow only 95.3 points per possession (good for the fourth best individual defensive rating among high minute players). That number balloons to an absurdly high 108 when Green is off the floor. That means the Warriors allow nearly 13 points per 100 possessions more when Green is not on the court. That impact cannot go unnoticed. Not only has Green had a huge impact on how his team plays defense, but he has also impacted his opponents shooting by incredible amounts. Green’s defensive field goal percentage of 38.1 is a massive seven percentage points lower than those opponents usual shooting percentage. For that impact on opponents and his teammates, as well as the versatility to guard multiple positions, Draymond is the first runner up for the DPOY award by a slim margin.
The favorite for the award, however, is Kawhi Leonard. Leonard, who won the award last year, is far and away the best perimeter defender in the league. The Spurs small forward has been the biggest part of his team earning the mantle of the most dominant defense in the league this season. By disrupting opponent offenses from the perimeter, Kawhi has earned the second best individual defensive rating in the league at 93.3. Leonard has a similar impact on opponents as Draymond with a 38.2 DFG%, six percentage points lower than their usual FG%. But perhaps the best measure of Kawhi’s dominance on the defensive end is how he’s performed against some of the elite scorers in the league. Here are some of the players Kawhi has spent time defending and how they’ve performed in those games:
Jimmy Butler: 14 points, 5-9 shooting
Paul George: 7 points, 1-14 shooting
James Harden: 17 points, 6-10 shooting
LeBron James: 22 points, 9-17 shooting
Carmelo Anthony: 19 points, 4-17 shooting
Kevin Durant: 22 points, 6-19 shooting
Of course, Leonard is not the only player to have guarded these guys during their matchups with the Spurs. But it is fair to point to his presence as a disrupter as the main factor in some poor performances from the elite wings in the NBA. Kawhi’s incredible defensive play, especially against some of the best players at his position, along with his team’s success will in all likelihood be enough to get him his second straight defensive player of the year award.
(All stats from the NBA and Basketball-Reference)
